Thanks for the replies, he is 12 years old has been riding enduro
For 2-3 years he is tall now 5?5? 130 lbs and currently rides a Honda crf 150
I think he needs a much better suspension/adjustable and I am trying to get him into a 2 stroke. I have tried to get him to ride my old GG 250
, he seams a bit afraid of it although he can touch the ground on his tippy toes!

Thanks for the replies, he is 12 years old has been riding enduro
For 2-3 years he is tall now 5?5? 130 lbs and currently rides a Honda crf 150
I think he needs a much better suspension/adjustable and I am trying to get him into a 2 stroke. I have tried to get him to ride my old GG 250
, he seams a bit afraid of it although he can touch the ground on his tippy toes!

He keeps asking when GG is coming out with a smaller bike.

Have looked at the kx100

Next year GasGas is coming out with a smaller bike. Expect full details in about 2 months from the EICMA show in spain. It will be called the ECRanger. Supposed to come in 200cc and 300cc flavours with pipes and mapping that will focus on torque. 46mm KYB suspension and a proper frame. Might be worth a serious look for you.

Thanks for the replies, he is 12 years old has been riding enduro
For 2-3 years he is tall now 5?5? 130 lbs and currently rides a Honda crf 150
I think he needs a much better suspension/adjustable and I am trying to get him into a 2 stroke. I have tried to get him to ride my old GG 250
, he seams a bit afraid of it although he can touch the ground on his tippy toes!

He keeps asking when GG is coming out with a smaller bike.

Have looked at the kx100

That is a difficult age and it is a big transition from the small / mid sized bikes to the full sized bikes. Riding a 250 on open / easy terrain is very different than riding an enduro on a 250. At 13, my son was 5'7" (1.7m) tall and he was getting too big for his kx100.

Cost has always been an issue for this hobby so we were looking for a good deal for his next bike which was going to be a full size. If at all possible we wanted to find a GG. The GG 200, 250 and 300 all are the same size and weight. The KX100 is 165lbs (75kg) wet. While we were not looking to put him 300 we came across a good deal on 2004 DE300 basket case. It literally came in boxes and baskets but that is another story.

For his age, my son was very level headed and had excellent throttle control so I figured we would give the 300 a shot. We did a full ground up rebuild together over the winter which was a terrific bonding and learning project.

We knew that starting a big bike was going to be a challenge. While my son was tall enough to ride the big bike he only weighed 135 lbs. We had the 300 cylinder head modified with a compression release button which helped starting. Open faster terrain was fine but honestly the bike was difficult for him to ride single track which he really enjoyed on his KX100. It took a year or two for him to ride the bigger bike comfortably in difficult terrain. Even then we found that wrestling the 300 through difficult terrain was a serious work out and it resulted in fatigue. I ultimately found GG125 that he rode for enduros and he rode his 300 for faster more open terrain. The GG200, 250 and 300s weigh 250 wet the 125 is 220 wet.

I think the biggest challenge is the weight difference. We had a similar challenge with my second son and my Godson when they transitioned from the KX100 and KLX140 to GG200s. Adding 50 to 80 lbs (20 to 35kg) to the weight and adding 2 inches (5cm) to a bike is a huge difference while riding and falling.

We found another GG 125 for my God daughter and that transition from the mid bike to the big bike was much easier.

This change will add many smiles with the big bike extra power and suspension, but be prepared that it will also add frustration along the way.

One last thing - Proper bike set up for his size and weight is very important especially seat height and suspension tuning.

I was digging through photos and found that my younger son started riding a GG200 at the age of 12. Like everything it takes time to learn the new bike. We used the lowering dog bone links in the suspension and dropped the fork preload and lowered the front end in the triple clamps to match the lowered rear. Within a year or so we were able to adjust the suspension back up to stock ride height.